Baron

by Joanna Shupe

  Will smirked. He’d never met an unmarried man and woman who spent hours together with money exchanged who were “strictly business.” “Miss whomever you are, I don’t care what kind of lies you’re shoveling out there to audiences, but I’m not some rube fresh off the farm. I know what you’re about, and all of it stinks.”

  “Oh, indeed? So what am I about, then?”

  “Blackmail. And if he doesn’t pay, you’ll take whatever personal details you’ve learned about him to the papers and turn him into a laughingstock. I will not let that happen.”

  She rose, and, because of the tight space, this put her close enough to where he could see the hazel flecks in her brown eyes. Were those freckles on her nose? “I don’t care who you are or what you think of me. If you think I’m going to let some stuffed, pompous railroad man scare me away from my best client, you are dead wrong.”

  * * *

  Ava Jones struggled to contain her smile while the handsome man across from her worked to understand her last sentence.

  Yeah, you’re catching on, railroad man. I’m not afraid of you.

  Everyone in New York knew William Sloane. Obscenely wealthy and from one of the snobbish, high-society families, he was mentioned frequently in the papers, both in the financial and the social pages. No doubt men and women bowed to his demands all day, every day. Not Ava. She owed him nothing and did not care about his demands. If not for her desire to get rid of him for good, she would’ve completely ignored him.

  At least she would have tried to ignore him. Unfortunately, Mr. Sloane was a man one noticed. She’d spotted him in the audience immediately. Strong, angular jaw. Pronounced cheekbones that highlighted an aristocratic nose. Sandy blond hair, oiled with precision, was swept off his forehead, and a sharp, unsmiling mouth that challenged a woman to see what it would take to loosen him up.

  Up close, the view improved markedly. Piercing eyes that had seemed blue in the theater but were actually gunmetal gray. He was tall, with an air of confidence suitable for a prince and a near-palpable energy radiating from his frame. Wide shoulders filled out the cut of his fancy coat quite nicely. She’d always been drawn to sturdy, capable shoulders. Something about Atlas bearing the weight of the world . . .

  But she’d learned long ago there was no one to bear the weight of her burdens. Those were hers alone.

  “Client?” he scoffed. “Wouldn’t ‘mark’ be a more accurate term?”

  Goodness, she was growing to dislike this man. “You assume I am swindling him when I am providing a service.”

  “By communing with John’s dead relatives? Come now, Madam Zolikoff. We both know that’s impossible.”

  She tapped her foot in annoyance. Did he have any idea how lonely John Bennett was? Whether her clients believed in her powers or not, most needed someone to care about them. A friend with whom to talk. A person to give them hope that there was something beyond this drudgery called life. That was what Madam Zolikoff provided—for a nominal fee, of course.

  These performances were another matter. People wanted a spectacle. A unique experience to share with their friends and neighbors. A bit of the fantastic to distract from the fatigue. Not everyone came from a wealthy family and ran a big company as a lark; most people needed a break from their daily trials.

  “You speak of things you do not understand,” she told him. “When I hear from John that he no longer requires my gift, then I will respectfully back off. But you act as if he is an opium eater and I am providing him with the drug. I am not forcing him to see me.”

  “What I understand is that you are preying on a wealthy and soon-to-be influential man.”

  Her muscles tightened, anger building in every inch of her body. “I would never blackmail him—I’m not trying to make trouble. The governor as my client would only help me.” Bigger-named clients meant more clients, which equated to more income. All she needed to do was save up enough money to get her two brothers and sister out of the factories. By her calculations, she had only four more months to go if all held steady. Four more months, after adopting the Madam Zolikoff likeness two years ago, and she’d have enough to keep her family safe.

  Out of the city. Away from the filth and toils of life in this city. Away from bitter memories. Instead, they’d have clean air and open spaces on a farm upstate. Freedom.

  Mr. Sloane shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers, which caused Ava to roll her eyes. How could someone so wealthy appear this aggrieved? Did this man not know real problems? The tip of her tongue burned with an offer to take him to the match factory to show him cases of phossy jaw. Had he seen the young girls with their rotting faces, jawbones glowing in the dark, all because they’d needed to put food on their table?

  Those were hardships. Not the fact that his friend and political partner paid her five dollars a week to read tea leaves and pass on bits of “news” from the great beyond.

  “How much will it take?” Sloane asked her. “How much do you need to walk away?”

  Oh, so tempting. Ava could throw out a high number and see if railroad man would bite. If he did, her siblings could quit their factory jobs. She would have enough to buy that piece of property and they could all be together. Finally.

  But she couldn’t. First, pride would not allow her. Taking Sloane’s money would be akin to admitting she was robbing people, which she was not. Second, she knew better than most that accepting money never came without strings. If you took what was offered, they felt as if they owned you.

  And no one owned Ava Jones. Not any longer.

  “You don’t have enough money to make me disappear. But if it makes you feel better, I’ll give you a discount on a séance.”

  He made a sound in his throat. “That is the last thing I need.”

  A knock sounded on the door before Robbie, one of the assistants, called, “Ava, hurry up. I need the room.”

  Mr. Sloane’s brows jumped and Ava cursed inwardly, irritated at the small revelation. “Ava,” he drawled, as if testing the sound on his tongue. “Pretty. Also, I like your hair better this way, without the wig.”

  She turned and began shoving her things into her carpetbag, trying to ignore the fluttering in her belly. The compliments were as unexpected as they were unwelcome. “Save the poetry for your Fifth Avenue debutantes, railroad man. You’re wasting your time with me.” She carefully lowered her wig and wig stand into the bag. Found her bonnet. Then she began shrugging into her coat.

  A large hand caught the coat and held it up. She easily slipped her arms through. “Thank you,” she mumbled.

  Without waiting for him, she pushed into the hall and strode toward the exit. The heels of her high boots ticked on the hard floor, and she could hear Sloane’s fancy evening shoes keeping pace. No doubt he was headed somewhere glamorous, like the opera or a high society ball. Not to a cramped three-room apartment in a West Side boardinghouse that she shared with her siblings.

  She opened the door to the lobby. “Everything all right, Ava?” Robbie eyed her carefully, gaze bouncing to the silent man behind her.

  “Fine, Robbie. Tell your sister I’ll be by tomorrow. See you next week.”

  He nodded and she continued out the main doors. An early evening rain had fallen during her performance, cooling the air a bit more than one would expect in mid-spring. Gaslight from the street lamps cast a yellow glow over the dark, wet cobblestones. Ava loved the rain. It washed the city clean and provided the residents with a reprieve from the usual odors, those of sweat, trash, rotting food, and horse excrement.

  “You’ve acquired quite a following for these shows.”

  “You’re still here?” She started walking, not caring whether he followed. Unfortunately, his long legs had no problem keeping pace with her. “I’m very good at what I do, Mr. Sloane. Admit it, you were entertained.”

  His mouth twisted as if he’d sucked a lemon. “I was offended, if you must know.”

  Now at the corner, she crossed over
Twenty-Seventh Street, heading south, and tried to contain her annoyance. “We don’t serve champagne and caviar, so I can imagine what a hardship the evening was for you.”

  “I was referring to the flimflam you performed on those poor unsuspecting people.”

  “Flimflam? Those ‘poor unsuspecting people’ wanted a show, and that’s what I gave them. There’s a reason I perform in a theater, and I’m damn good at what I do.”

  “You take their money and pretend their dead relatives are speaking to you.”

  He spoke to her as if she were a criminal, his tone condescending and cutting, and blood rushed in her ears. “First of all, how are you so certain my talents are not real?” He started to open his mouth, so she stopped on the sidewalk and pointed a finger in his face. “You don’t have any idea, Mr. Sloane, so save your judgment. Second, I wasn’t aware that your own business practices were always so scrupulous.” His eyes dimmed, and she knew she’d landed a blow. “I’m sure while running a big railroad you never skirt the law or buy political favor. So save me your sanctimonious attitude.”

  “Fine,” he snarled, leaning closer. “Run your con anywhere you want, sweetheart, but leave John Bennett alone.”

  Will Sloane was tall, much larger than she, yet she didn’t back down, not for one second. She’d already let one overprivileged, handsome man try to wreck her life. No way would she repeat the mistake.

  She glared up at him. “Not in your wildest dreams do I take orders from the likes of you. Go bully someone else.”

  * * *

  Goddamn this woman.

  Will could not believe her. He’d offered her any amount of money to back off, and she’d laughed in his face. Him, William Sloane. The sheer gall was staggering.

  Now she was walking away, so he hurried after her, his long strides eating up the narrow sidewalk. A particularly rough part of town, the Tenderloin was no place for a young woman after dark. Yet she held her head high, unconcerned over her safety.

  He took a moment to study her—Ava, not Madam Zolikoff. The simple, military-style cut of her coat hugged her small shoulders and upper body, revealing generous curves and accenting a small waist. A small straw bonnet with fake flowers covered sable-brown hair. Her boots were worn, but clean. No jewelry. He hadn’t noticed a wedding ring before she donned her gloves, yet he had noted how she generously filled out the bodice of her shirtwaist.

  Men loitered in a doorway near the corner, and their gazes tracked Ava as she went by. One of the toughs pushed off the stoop, as if to follow her, and Will pointed a finger at the man. Don’t, he mouthed, and the man stopped in his tracks, raising his hands in surrender.

  Two more steps brought Will alongside her. “You should have an escort. This is not an area of town safe for a woman out alone.”

  She snorted. “There isn’t any area of town safe for a woman out alone. Not even in your fancy neighborhood.” She shoved her hands into the pockets of her coat. “And you don’t need to protect me. I can take care of myself.”

  He didn’t doubt that. The image of a lioness came to mind, one that would chew a man up and spit him out. “Are you always so difficult?”

  She threw her head back and laughed—a genuine, sultry sound that hit him square in the gut. He pushed down the reaction, put it in a place with all the other things he ignored.

  “Only with men who try to boss me around.”

  “A lot of those in your life?”

  “Just one, apparently. Any ideas on how to get rid of him?”

  Will’s lips twitched from suppressing a smile. “No, unless you’re ready to give in. I won’t disappear until you leave John alone.”

  She stopped in her tracks and put her hands on her hips. Her brown gaze lit up with fire and brimstone, her generous bosom heaving in a distractingly enticing manner. “Why do you care so much? Your money could buy whatever election you wanted, cover up any hint of scandal that might occur. Therefore, you don’t really care about what I’m doing to John. Tell me, why are you following me? ’Cause I need to tell you, I’m not buying it.”

  What the hell was she implying? That he was after her? His muscles clenched as he stepped closer, hoping to intimidate her with their difference in height. Surprisingly, she held her ground, merely lifted a brow as if to say, Get on with it. He tried not to be impressed.

  “First, I would never use my money to buy an election. I want to win, and I mean to do that fairly. Second, I can cover up just about any scandal I want, but all it takes is one whiff, one hint of impropriety, and my political career will be over before it begins. I’ll be a laughingstock. And there’s no way I’ll allow that to happen.”

  “No, John will be a laughingstock. John’s political career will be over. And”—she made a disbelieving sound—“you act as if New York politics are clean and fair. We both know politicians are dirtier than chimney sweeps, and that’s saying something.”

  “I wouldn’t throw stones at the legitimacy of other vocations, were I you.”

  “Oh!” She threw up her hands and stomped away. “Leave me alone, William Sloane.”

  He trailed after her, catching up in a few steps. “You’re wrong. In my world, you’re judged not only on your own actions, but the actions of those around you. The company you keep. If John goes down, I go down as well.”

  “Then I can only imagine what your world would think of you keeping company with me in the Tenderloin.”

  “They’d think I’d lost my ever-loving mind,” he muttered.

  “Then scurry back home to Fifth Avenue. I’m sure your butler has brandy and cigars waiting. No one here is stopping you.”

  “Washington Square.”

  Her head swung toward him. “Pardon?”

  “I live on Washington Square.” It had been a long time since he’d had to tell anyone that. The Sloanes had been in that location since the city covered up the graves and converted the space to a public park.

  “Oh, excuse me,” she said with mock sincerity. “Scurry back home to Washington Square.”

  “After you promise to stop your shenanigans with John.”

  “Sloane!”

  The voice came from behind them, so he spun to see who was there. A few people were out, but no one close enough. No one came forward or even met his eye. Who had called his name?

  Strange.

  Facing forward, he instantly noticed something else. He was now alone.

  “Ava?” Feet planted, his gaze swept the sidewalk and the street, searching. He peered across to the other side, thinking maybe she had crossed the street.

  There was no sign of her. Nothing. She had disappeared into thin air.

  Chapter Two

  Ava trudged up the few steps outside the boardinghouse. She’d walked all the way from the theater, not both-ing to jump on a late streetcar. The night air and exercise had helped to clear her head. Not to mention, she’d rather save the fare.

  Had there ever been a man more aggravating than Will Sloane?

  In my world . . . I won’t disappear until you leave John alone . . . I live on Washington Square. Ava shoved her key in the lock, turned it roughly. Sakes alive, he’d been everything she had assumed: pompous, overbearing, privileged.

  That’s not all you thought of him.

  Yes, fine. He was more handsome than any man in his position had a right to be. But those sorts of thoughts would only get her into trouble.

  After pushing her way inside, she began the climb to the third floor. The stairs creaked beneath her tired feet. Rent was due in less than a week. She needed to see how much her siblings could contribute this month. The amount always varied, depending on work at the factories, whether one had been sick, holidays, and so forth. Ava had almost all of the rent herself, and she could take the rest out of their savings, but she’d prefer not to. If necessary, she could skip meals for the next few days to make up a bit of money. Saving money means not spending it.

  Madam Zolikoff afforded them a decent living. Certainly better
than most they’d grown up with downtown. She could buy her brothers and sister new clothes, shoes, food. They were clean and had a respectable roof over their heads. Fourteen months ago, she’d been able to move them out of the leaky old tenement on the Lower East Side—a feat her parents hadn’t managed while they’d been alive.

  Furthermore, she was saving money for their future. Soon, she’d uproot her family out of this godforsaken hellhole and into a nice, wide-open space. The kids could grow up as . . . kids, not overworked and underpaid workers, no better treated than the stray dogs wandering the alleys. Where they wouldn’t make the same mistakes she had once upon a time.

  Therefore, no, William Sloane. She wouldn’t be giving up. Not now, not when she was so close.

  She unlocked the door to their rooms, stepped inside, and set her carpetbag down. The rich smell of potato soup hit her nose, and she found Tom and Mary eating at the table. “Good evening.” She bolted the door and unbuttoned her coat. “I see you started on the soup I made earlier.”

  Her sister nodded, her thirteen-year-old shoulders slumped in exhaustion. “It’s delicious. Thank you, Ava.” Mary worked as a finisher in a clothing factory on Ludlow. Her job was to sew the final touches on a garment by hand. While the work was tedious and exhausting, thank God it wasn’t dangerous.

  Tom said nothing, merely shoved more soup in his mouth. Ava knew this was likely the fifteen-year-old’s first morsel since breakfast. He worked in a cigar factory on Rivington, not far from Mary’s shop.

  “Where’s Sam?”

  Mary swallowed and said, “He’s lying down. Says he feels sick.”

  An all-too-familiar knot of apprehension tightened in Ava’s chest. Sam had not been a well child. Weak blood, their mother had often said, though Ava knew that to be poppycock. For whatever reason, twelve-year-old Sam tended to become ill more than the rest of them. Ava was certain he would improve once they left New York, once he could rest and breathe fresh air.